“We asked but Bob politely declined. He said he's doing his own thing now,” said Simon. “Bob's gone in a different musical direction and we're about taking it back to basics."
Simon wants to make sure I make it clear that it's just two of the original line-up reuniting — himself on drums and Garry Roberts on guitar. They're being joined by The Animals' Peter Barton on bass and Darren Beale on lead guitar.
“I wouldn't say 'just' two of us though,” said Simon. “We'll be playing the songs we used to play when we first started off in 1975 — all the early stuff that really defined the Rats, We're drawing the line after the second album.”
“Garry and I talked about it before but although we could have got a few pub gigs we didn't really have the contacts in the music business to make it work from a commercial sense,” said Simon.
Simon and Garry contacted the other Rats but they were all too busy.
“We thought we'd just carry on anyway,” said Simon. “The music comes naturally to me and Garry but the new guys have had to do a bit of homework. It's not been a problem though. They're such good musicians they've slipped into it.”
“We did a gig in Devon the other day and the place was hopping — it was absolutely electric. It was so long since it's happened like that I forgot the feeling.”
The band hope to record a new album in 2009 but they're not getting carried away.
“We're taking one step at a time,” said Simon. "We're just going to get out there and see what reaction we get. But the message is watch this space. We're back, we're in action and it could be Boomtime again.”
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